Micro- and Macroenvironment and Habitat Influences on Tick Abundance in Oklahoma City Urban Parks

Abstract

Most studies on tick-borne diseases in the United States have focused on suburban and rural areas, leaving a gap in understanding risks in cities, where environmental conditions and human-tick interactions differ. Recent research has examined microhabitat effects on tick abundance but are limited in spatial and temporal scope. Tick behavior, such as host seeking, is shaped by local environmental factors and remains underexplored in urban landscapes. Integrating Earth observations of macroenvironmental and habitat conditions may improve our understanding of urban tick ecology. We hypothesize that a combination of micro- and macroenvironmental and habitat conditions predicts tick abundance in urban parks. Specifically, we expect microclimate factors (humidity and leaf litter depth) and macroconditions (habitat type and spatial arrangement) to influence questing tick abundance. In summer 2023, we collected ticks from 13 parks in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area using carbon dioxide traps and flagging techniques. Over 97% of ticks were Amblyomma americanum, a species known for aggressive host-seeking behavior. Our analysis of tick abundance in relation to microenvironmental (temperature, humidity, wind, and vegetation) and macroenvironmental (land-cover and landscape metrics) factors showed that solar radiation negatively affected tick abundance, whereas soil pH, woody vegetation, and forest cover were positive predictors. For adults, leaf litter depth and solar radiation were negative predictors, whereas woody vegetation and forest cover had positive impacts. Amblyomma americanum nymph abundance increased with humidity and soil pH. These findings underscore the complex interactions between environmental factors and tick distributions, with implications for urban health and park management.